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"Don't let me be too late" Lina's thoughts flew as fast as her body. She could barely concentrate, even though she did worry about Zelgadis. What a time to be thinking about something like this...but she couldn't help it. Did Xellos love her? Or was that a game?! That damn enigmatic bastard-priest, she thought. She couldn't afford to think about him and his games right now, not if Zelgaddis was about to release the last piece of Shabrnaigdo, possibly killing himself to do it.
Of course, destroying Shranagido didn't concern her. She'd spent the last few months travelling with Gourry after one legendary treasure after another only to manage to slaughter the other remaining pieces. She'd lost track of how many exactly--by the time she'd hit the third, she felt she could kill the dark lord's pieces in her sleep. Dragon Slave, sword of light, laguna blade, and *boom* it was all over, easier than roasting a fish.
Sword of Light? The thought reminded her of something and she groaned. Where *was* Gourry anyway?! Could she do this on her own?! No, of course she could. She didn't need that big lout with her to do this. She could travel on her own, she'd done it before she met him. Nevermind it had really only been two weeks of travel by herself, since she'd snuck off from Nahga. And before that, maybe barely a month of travel since she'd left her childhood home at the age of 13.
Oh, perhaps you've heard the rumors about Lina being hundreds of years old? You can forget those rumors about her right now. They were just exaggerated. Time-travel does that. You appear in one century hundreds of years ago and somebody makes a statue of you, and next thing you know, you're back in your own time and people think you've been alive for hundreds of years! That's the real danger of time travel...its even happened to me. But this isn't my story is it? No, I was telling you the story I learned about Lina, and how she had a child named Shabranigdo.
Zelgadis smiled, his eyes narrowing as he pushed back the cloak he wore. In front of him, unbelievably, lay the silver pool of light that Xellos had described. The devil told the truth, and next, thought Zelgadis, an angel would lie. He didn't let down his guard just yet, even though he could almost feel the end to this curse nearing. How many years had he suffered in this hideous body?
His mind wandered back to the day he'd been cursed, a day he remembered more often than any other day in his life. The soft chiming of the metal rings on Rezo's staff, and the hint of a twisted smile on his grandfather-father's face. "The reasons and method do not matter."Rezzo had taunted him. Zelgaddis often wished he'd understood what Rezzo meant before he'd accepted the offer a "gift" of power that curdled his very existence.
Yet it was now almost over. He stepped closer to the glowing fountain in which many said the compressed body of Ceipheed lay trapped by the swirling darkenss. If Shabranigdo had been hacked into parts, Ceipheed had been compressed into a dense ball of energy. Part of that energy resonated in the sword of light which pulled its energy from the whole large glowing pool before him.
If he worked this spell, that Xellos had given him, it would all be over. He could undo that day.
Yet the curse truly did not start there. No, it began when Zelgaddis began. His mother had been a simple village girl, scared and alone, that her mother lay dying of some strange disease. No one in the village would help, for her mother had born her out of wedlock. Good pure village folk did not help the morally weak, such as Zelgaddis' grandmother or her daughter. So, hearing of the miracles Rezo could perform, she'd gone to beg him to cure her mother when he appeared in a nearby village. Escaping the jealous eyes of his assitant, Eris, Zelgaddis' mother had convinced the priest to journey to her own village. Of course, just how she'd managed that became evident several months later when she realized she was pregnant. Yet the sacrifice had been for nought, for the minute Rezo laid his healing touch on the ailing woman, she had recognized him and muttered "It's YOU! Finally...She's your daughter. Time you took care of her!" And had died right there.
Rezo saw to the burial, and despite the death-bed plea, had left the young girl, his daughter, alone in his castle. In time, she bore their child, who she named Zelgaddis. She didn't tell him the details herself of his parentage, but the villagers had been more than willing to taunt him with the sordid tale.
It was the shunning of the villagers, the early taunts, and the beatings by those who considered him an abonmination that had led Zelgaddis to seek power. He wanted to be strong. To be powerful, so that he could protect himself and his mother from the villagers. He would show them, he'd thought.
And in the end, Rezzo's "gift" had only expanded the curse he'd been born under. Now the deformity lay open to view, in the blue and rocky skin that covered him. Before only those who knew his history avoided him. Now villagers ran in fear just on sight at his hideous form. The worst had been the day after his transformation, when he'd returned to the castle, and his mother had a heart attack at the sight of him. He'd held her as she died, calling out Rezo's name.
Seeing Lina kill Rezo (twice) freed a lot of that anger from inside him, but until he could return to human, Zelgaddis knew his revenge would not be complete.
His steps brought him to the very edge of the pool of light. He began to cast the spell that would draw the power from the pool.
"ZELGADIS!" A familiar voice screamed. "GET AWAY FROM THERE!"
"What!?' He said, his concentration blasted, the spell fading away.
Two arms tackled him, pulling him backwards and causing him and his assailant to roll together down the sloped path.
They stopped finally, both gasping for breath and staring angrily at each other.
"GET OFF ME!" She complained. "You're heavy!" He sighed, mentally noting that *she* had been the one to attack him, so it was entirley her fault that she was lying underneath him now. But, it was Lina, so of course she'd blame him.
"Hello Lina." Zelgaddis said as he pushed himself up on his arms to stand. "Don't intefere."
She grabbed his shoulders, preventing him from rising furhter, trapping him into leaning over her. "You can't, Zel!"
"You told me to get off you Lina." He replied. She shoved him into sitting as she scrambled up.
"That's not what I meant. You can't do this. You can't transform yourself back to human--it'll cause something really bad to happen!"
His blood, which granted had already been altered and probably didn't run warm, froze to ice. "What?"
She nodded as she stood and took his hands. "Zelgadis, I'm sorry. But its true. Rezzo's curse went further than you know. He put you in the same position as himself."
"So? I don't care." Zelgaddis shrugged her off and began to climb back to the pool.
"What is with him!" Lina swore as she ran after him. She grabbed his elbow, but he flung her back down the hill.
"OUCH!" She swore as she landed with a bump. "Guess I better get his attention again." She concentrated letting the energy build in her hand. "Fireball!" The blast of firepower swept over his head, setting his clothes on fire. He stopped, dropped and rolled to the ground.
"Lina, this is tiresome. I won't let anyone stand in my way now, even you. I've waited for this for too long."
"Don't you see you're acting just like Rezzo?" Lina complained trying to distract him while she thought of options. "I told you not to do this, and you don't care who you hurt or crush to get your way! If you cast this spell, I'll have to kill you!!"
Zelgaddis paused. "What are you talking about?"
"Zelgaddis!" Any one else feeling what Lina did might have cried, but Lina tended to yell, not cry. "YOU IDIOT! Don't you dare take this kid of risk with yourself...if you do...I'll...I'll...Why do you want to be human so bad anyway!? At this cost, I'm telling you, its not worth it! You're fine the way you are!"
He didn't even turn around. "So you think."
Her whole form shook as she launched a fireball in his general direction. "AT LEAST TELL ME WHY! WHY YOU WOULD RISK THIS! DAMN IT I'M TALKING TO YOU ZELGADIS!"
It bounded off the shield he threw up, but he turned and took a step towards her.
"Do you want to know why?"He said in an almost monotone voice.
He grabbed her, and with one hand pressed her head against hers, his lips against hers.
Lina scrunched up her face. It felt like smashing her face into a stone wall. "Ne, Zel, stop this!" She said, pity showing in her eyes.
"See...you don't even get offended!" He said. He released her and calmly crossed his arms.
"I am offended, Zel, if anyone else but you did that--"
"You'd have knocked him clear across the country."
"uh...yeah."
"And it doesn't make you mad when its me, because I am not really human. I don't count" He muttered. "I will never count."
"HEY! I've been irritated when non-humans kiss me too!" She protested. She bit her lip, mentally withdrawing her foot from her mouth. "That's not what I meant. You're human Zel, even if you are a chimera, and that has nothing to do with why...I mean, its because you're my friend, Zel."
He turned back towards the fountain. "A friend? If you were my friend you would understand how much this means to me. How could you ask why I would risk everything for this? If you try to stop me, then you are not my friend."
"I'm telling you, because I am your friend that you can't do this! It'll set free Shabranigdo's last piece. Don't you get it? Just like Rezo's eyes held Shabrnaigdo, your body now holds part of Shabranigdo!"
Zel stopped. His hand curled into a tight fist as his foot crushed a small rock. "Now I understand, I see how this all falls into place. No wonder Xellos told me how to cure--
"Xellos told you?"
Zel raised an eyebrow. "How do you think I knew how to cure myself or find this place? He told me how to get here."
"But..he..."
"He told you to stop me, I take it?"
"WELLLLL-----You've guessed my little game, haven't you!" Xellos said appearing, smile first, out of nowhere. "So now...what are you going to do?!" His voice sounded almost innocent.
"Zel, you *can't*." Lina protested. "If you, I mean, if you did you'd be just as bad as Rezzo, he'd win. He passed his curse onto you, in that form, but show you're stronger than him. You can take it...when he couldn't."
"No I can't. I'm sick of this body." Zel replied.
"Zel, come on!"She pleaded.
"Get out of my WAY" He uttered, shoving Lina so hard she almost took flight.
Xellos caught her, but she ripped herself out of his arms and ran headfirst into Zel, bruising her head in the process.
"You can't stop me, Lina. Not now. I'm too determined."
"ZEL!"Lina protested. "He probably lied about it turning you to human. Remember, Rezo didn't see for more than a second before he became Shabranigdo! Xellos lied to you that it would cure you!"
"Rezzo didn't know that would happen, but I do. And I think I can prepare for that."
"INDEED!"Xellos cheered "Ah! Zelgaddis-san, it will be interesting to see you try!But I assure you, the information I gave you is correct." He paused slightly. " You will return to your human state if you cast that spell" Then with a giddy wink he added"Go on, hurry now, before sweet little Lina-chan changes your mind. Oh, dear, she's getting to you, isn't she?"
Zelgaddis eyed Xellos. A priest thought to be good had cast him into this darkness, and now one thought to be evil promised to lead him out. Zelgaddis appreciated the symmetry of it, even if he hated both priests equally. "Shut up, Mazokou." He answered. "I'm not changing my mind now."
"Zel, think about this.. To be human again, and destroy the world while you're at it? Kill your friends?! That's not human." Lina complained. "If that's how you regain your old body, you're going to lose your soul!"
A familiar high pitched voice protested. "Oh! Zelgaddis-sama, I thought you understood Justice. We fought side by side, but now, how terrible that I must stop you!"
Ameria jumped and, for once, executed a perfect landing after her summersault.
Xellos clapped, as he popped some popcorn into his mouth. He held up a sign with 9.92 on it.
Zelgaddis tossed a fireball at her. She threw up a shield.
"Ne, Zelgaddis-sama, *stop* this *right* now" Ameria protested. Unlike Lina, she couldn't hold back tears. "I don't want to fight you."
"Then don't." he said with determination as he approached the Pool of Light.
He stopped short as a blade of light nearly took his head off.
"Sorry Zel...its my job." Gourry said holding the sword up.
"GOURRY!" Lina exclaimed surprised at his sudden appearance.
"Oh my, the swordsman too. How thrilling!" Xellos clapped his hands and smiled as he hovered over to Lina. "Ne, Lina, why don't you sit beside me and watch? He idicated the air beside him with a wink. "The others can take care of this without you!"
Zelgaddis felt rage expand inside him. "Gourry too? You won't stop me either. Get out before I have to kill you."
"If I have to die to stop you I will." Gourry's voice took on the seriousness he reserved for sword fights. The light blade flashed through the air. "The Pool of Light cannot be violated in this way."
"They're going to kill each other!" Ameria wailed as she tugged hard on Lina's arms. Lina flung the smaller girl away. "Lina-sama, do something! Do something!"
"How can I do anything with you tugging on me like that?!"Lina complained as she darted forward between the warring Chimera and Swordsman.
Gourry swerved his sword out of the way, as Zelgaddis slung the spell he had cast into a random direction. It crashed into the ground, inches away from an unlucky Ameria.
"Lina..."They said simultaneously.
"Come on you guys!"Lina said.
"Uh, Lina!?" Gourry said. "Would you mind getting out of the way?"
Zelgaddis merely shoved her and launched a flare arrow which Gourry batted away with the sword.
"Great, they're not listening." Lina groaned.
"Oh my...oh my, no they're not are they?" Xellos crooned "Do you really want to stop them?"
"You know I do!" She growled as he watched her two friends leap and lunge and attempt to decapitate each other. She eyed Xellos wearily. "So, do you know how?"
He smiled. One eyed winked open, as he leaned forward. "Ah...That is a Secret!"
She smacked him. "This is not the time for it Mazkou."
"I'll tell you then." He smiled. "But you have to kiss me."
She looked as if he'd suggested she dance with a fish-man. "k...ki..kis"
He leaned forward, and caught her--his mind pouring straight like a shot into her, as his lips touched hers. It was the barest contact, just enough for his mind to load into hers.
[K--k--ki]
(oh, my! What a waste of time, Lina, and here I thought you'd want to know how to transform Zelgadis without Shabranigdo possessing him?)
[but how do I do that?]
(The Mazokou Slave...)
[the what!?]
(Of course I don't know how to do that spell, any more than a dragon would know how to Dragon Slave.)
[I don't have time for that-- they're fighting right now!]
(They stopped)
Lina broke the link and turned as the two warriors stood side by side,paused in battle their jaws hanging wide open and staring at her, and she realised, Xelloss. Red-faced she turned to them, adopting a business like tone and ordered "STOP! I think I know how to solve the problem"
"Lina?" Gourry asked confused. "What--what--"
Zelgaddis merely cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting, Lina. Gourry and I are battling for our lives, and you are making out with--"
"I was *not* ma ma...I wans't doing anything!"A crimson Lina declared. "If we cast the Mazokou Slave after you cast that spell, you'll be left in your human form alive, and Shabranigdo would be separated so I can Giga Slave him."
"The Mazokou Slave?!" Ameria said puzzled. "I've never heard of that."
"Illumination from dawn, silver from breath that blows, dancing in the stream of time, in thy noble name, I pledge myself to illumination! Those who attack us shall be saved by the power you and I guide..." A voice sang out of nowhere, as gently as the falling leaves of a cherry tree.
Xellos sighed. "That is my exit cue, I take it." He vannished.
A young woman stepped forward, smiling "I left out a few words, but that's essentially it, but I wouldn't cast it without a reason." She emerged from the pool of light, as if that were a fairly natural thing to do. She had dark green hair, that glinted with gold, the long strands of which covered honey-dark skin and shaded her smoke colored eyes. A gold circlet gleamed in her hair, matching the earrings dangling near her neck and matching the tie that made her hair curve up in a high ponytail. Her dress seemed to be one long piece of cloth, wrapped around her to form a loose, flowing pants, and then slanting diagnonally across her chest to hang down her back. A gold belt encircled her waist,left bare by the gap between the short blouse she wore under the longer cloth.
"Kari!" Ameria shouted in some surprise as the girl walked towards the small group.
"You know her?" Lina asked as Ameria threw her arms around the newcomer in an enthusiastic hug.
"You've grown so much, little cousin!" Kari said happily. "You were just three when I last saw you! But where is Gracia, and my aunt??"
"Dead." Ameria said softly. "At least, Mother...and after that, Gracia left."
Tears streamed noislessly down the young lady's face. "I had no idea...no one told me."
"Speaking of not being informed, who are you!?" Lina asked. "Not that I want to interrupt the touching renunion, but we sort of have a situation on our hands!" She pointed towards Zelgaddis who had taken advantage of the confusion to head towards the pool and had just about cast the spell. Darkness engulged him sending the day into sudden night. He screamed as the sound of stones shattering hit their ears.
"Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows...
"Oh dear!" The girl said releasing Ameria. She lowered her hands and crossed them, spinning around and then raising them high into the air.
"Illumination from dawn, silver from breath that blows, dancing in the stream of time, in thy noble name,
"Buried in the flow of time... in thy great name,"
"I pledge myself to illumination!"
I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"
Those who attack us shall be saved by the power you and I guide"-
MAZOKOU SLAVE!"
--DRAGON SLAVE!!"
They said as light slammed into the dark shadow figure outlining around Zel's body. The light forced the figure out, trapping it in a net of gentle white light, as the dark blast went for the kill. The white magic concentrated the effect of the dragon slave, twisting Shabranigdo's power upon himself. Ordinarily, the Dragon Slave, which requires pulling energy from Shabranigdo, doesn't do much *to* Shabranigdo. It could destroy the host-body right quick, but the astral force made real of the Dark Lord wouldn't even need to dust off its aura. That is, not unless a net of pure white light drawn from Ceipheed happened to be around. Picture a generator overheating itself without a propper outlet to discharge the energy. That's essentially what the combination did, as well as another interesting side effect. The two spells forced each other out into the spirit world, leaving Zelgadis physical body (and his spirit tied to that body) completely unharmed.
And it was done, in a flash of light so quick one could hardly believe it.
"Zelgaddis!?" Lina called as she staggered over to where the young man lay sprawled on the ground.
Ameria beat her to him as did her cousin. They both knelt by him, and bathed him with a white magic revival spell.
Zelgadis sat up. He blinked a bit, staring at the faces in front of him, and then down at his own pale golden-peach skin, the only blue in the veins that criss-crossed just underneath the surface of his skin.
"I...I'm cured..." He said in amazement.
"Zelgadis-san, are you ok?" Ameria asked quietly, her voice catching a bit. A slow blush spread across her face.
"I think so." He stared up at Lina. "Thank you."
"It wasn't me!" Lina exclaimed somewhat embarrassed. "If...that girl hadn't helped I think...well, we've been through these doomsday scenarios enough to know what might have happened instead."
Zelgaddis frowned and stood. Deliberately he pushed past Ameria and her cousin and walked over to Lina. He took her hands in his and said in a low voice "I'm sorry."
He didn't explain why he apologized. Because he obviously was not sorry that he'd finally suceeded, nor was he sorry he'd risked their lives to do it. Perhaps he was sorry that it was necessary to have risked them, or that he didn't feel bad about risking them. Whatever motivated him to apologize after everything was over, he apologized for his own reasons and not for forgiveness. And he apologized only to Lina.
"Its OK, Zel" Lina shifted uncomfortably as she stared at Zel's face and felt the slight movement of his fingers against hers. Not quite a caress, but certainly something intentional. Monsters Lina could handle. A recently cured monster who stared into her eyes and made her knees feel funny, well, that was something not in her repetoire. She needed to break the tension of the moment, the slow sudden draw of his gaze that made the rest of the world fade.
So Lina babbled. "Wow..so this is what you look like underneath that stone, huh? Its like looking at a stranger."
The words allowed her to step back and release his hands. "Well, I guess *that* worked out ok..." But as she stepped back, she stepped into something large and solid, and just as intent on violating her personal space as Zel and Xellos had been recently.
Gourry turned her around to face him. Without mentioning their recent separation or other events he asked something relatively normal "So, are we going to go somewhere and eat now?! I think I smell something cooking over there!"
"Uh, food?!" She sniffed the air. "FOOD!" She took off running, and Gourry took off after her. "Later Zel, Ameria! Nice-to-meet-cha-whoever-you-are!"
Zelgaddis sighed. Some things never changed, he thought. But, come to think of it, this was enough change for today.
"Zelgaddis-san?" Ameria ventured. "What are you going to do now?"
Zelgadis frowned. He'd never really thought about what he might do, when he finallly lifted this curse. The quest had occupied him so long, that it never occured to him to plan that far ahead.
"Perhaps you would come with me to Sairune? Your magic skills and abilities will be much appreciated in the Royal Castle." Her eyes grew as large as saucers as she leaned towards him to ask. He could practically hear her little heart beat.
He didn't turn towards her, but kept staring into the distance where a small redheaded terror fleed from a taller blond figure. "I don't think that would suit me." He replied honnestly, and a bit harshly.
"OH..." Ameria said very dissapointedly. "If you change your mind...but in the meantime, I'm on a quest of my very own! To find the lost Scales of Justice!"
"Scales of Justice?"
"That was why I happened to be passing by...I came to see my cousin, Kari and see if she could help."
Kari shook her head. "I'm afraid I've never heard of it but I would be happy to help. The Temple is very quiet, and if Lina just destroyed the last piece of Shabranigdo, then I think I could take a break. No one comes here for wishes anymore really."
Zelgaddis turned towards Kari. "What is it that you do exactly?"
She smiled beautifully. "I am the Priestess of Ceipheed of course."
"A Miko?"
"Priestess. Shabrnaigdo has his Lords, who have their generals and priests, but Ceipheed doesn't like that much hierarchy. Its just Ceipheed, and then Luna and I, and of course, the Dragons."
"Luna?" Ameria said, wondering why the name sounded familiar.
"Luna Inverse, you mean?" Zelgaddis prompted her.
"Yes, though I haven't really met her. She's the Knight. I'm the Priestess." Kari shrugged delicately. "Our missions are different. I stay here with the Pool of Light, and grant wishes."
"So that was a wish that turned me back to normal?" Zelgaddis said amazed. "That incantation?"
Kari nodded. "Those who know the code get a wish. Actually, three wishes, that's the standard number. What's your second wish?"
"Second wish?!" Zelgaddis said in some amazement. He couldn't even think of what he could do by himself, let alone wish for something to do. "Are there limits on this?!"
"No fair Kari-chan, don't I get a wish?" Ameria pouted.
"Do you know the incantation? I can't honnestly just give away wishes even to family. Its not right." She said gently.
"I wonder how Xellos knew the incantation?"Zelgaddis said then suddenly growing suspcious. Everything seemed too perfect. Something somewhere had to be about to go wrong. Any second, he would turn back into a Chimera. He hated this feeling of apprhension. He almost wished the dream would end right now, with him back in his cursed--
"HEY!" He said as stone rippled over his body. "I *almost* wished that!" He complained.
"OOPS...the magic responds to thoughts, I'm afraid. Its not permanent yet." She said smiling. Again the effect reversed itself. "You do not have to decide right away, Zelgaddis. Until you use up your wishes, though, I will have to stay with you. There are some rules about this I could explain."
"So can you explain how Xellos knew the incantation?" Zelgaddis asked.
She sighed. "Oh...that. Its' a secret."
Zelgaddis barely restrained himself from wishing she hadn't said that.
Ameria frowned. "Ne, Kari, can't you tell me? We are family!"
Kari looked around, seeing no Mazkou in sight and whispered. "No. But I'll tell you this. Xellos didn't know it."
"He *didn't*?" Ameria said frowning.
"No one does." Kari said. "Those who want something purely with all their hearts, and those that are deemed worthy get a wish. So the incantation is not like an ordinary spell. Its more like a prayer. That's the way it works. Your heart matters more than your words. But just think if that got out, how busy I'd be! So many more people would try just to see. That's why the shrine is hidden so well."
"So, even if he did not know what could happen, he led me here." Zelgaddis swore under his breath. "Something is wrong. Why would Xellos do something like that?"
Kari blinked. "What do you mean?"
Ameria frowned, somehow making even that sign of displeasure look cute. "Come to think of it, Xellos told me to go find the Scales too. I wonder why?"
"I suppose we won't know until we find them."Zelgaddis said flipping his hood on out of habit. "Are we going, or are we waiting around?" He said taking off forcing the two girls to chase after him.
"Wait, the temple!" Kari said. "I can't leave it just like that!"
Zelgaddis turned as Kari held up a small bottle. The whole pool of light vannished like smoke into the small odd shaped bottle. A triangular shaped lid, pointed like a curvy pyramid sealed it, the top sticking into the long neck and down into the full blown, rounded bottom.
She smiled as she placed the bottle through a link in the golden belt she wore just above her hip. "Its a Portable Lap-Top Temple." She said by way of explanation. "I'd docked it here, but I'm ready to go now."
The three figures headed down the hill leaving a wide crevice behind.
Xellos grinned as he watched them go. Just as he'd planned it.
A lesser demon appeared. "Just what do you think you're doing, destroying the dark lord like this?"
Xellos destroyed the minion with a flick of his wrist. "I don't answer to underlings such as you."
"But you do to me." The girl-woman-wolf said. She shimmered into existence with her head cocked. " I felt the destruction of Shabranigdo. It is all I can do to keep the other Lords from attacking you right now...and apparently they are not listening. Hurry the plan, Xellos or I may not be able to stop them. I may even join them in destroying you and your little playthings if you play too long."
He bowed and winked away, without even uttering the usual glib comments. He knew when to push his luck. And this just wasn't the time. He had too many balls up in the air, and if he didn't watch them carefully his little trick would be spoiled. He could laugh later, when they all fell into place.
The bandit smiled at the young couple before him. He'd been waiting for awhile to lure hungry travellers here to attack. "Please, won't you join me for----" He stopped. He'd been about to say dinner, but as the two had just eaten everything but the small salad of green leaves, he realized it would be rather futile to continue. He'd just have to move to the second phase and skip the lulling them into a food coma and then stealing from them while they relaxed. These rude people deserved an all out attack! To know they were being robbed. His fist clenched on the knife as he prepared to slide it against Lina's throat.
But his hostage had other ideas. She stood and looked straight at him and held out her bowl.
"THANKS! That was tasty!" Lina grinned. "Do you have any more?."
"MORE!" He exclaimed in disbelief, momentarily forgetting to start his attack. "YOU'VE EATEN MY ENTIRE FOOD SUPPLY FOR A WEEK, and you want MORE!?"
"Um, yes." She smiled. "And could you use more salt this time?!"
"I am not a CHEF" He swore. as he brought the knife up suddenly. "I am a BANDIT! I am going to steal from *YOU*! No you cannot have any more!!!!!" He yelled. "You're going to have LESS..."
"A bandit?" Lina inquired in a sweet "I'm-scared" voice, that warned Gourry to get out of range.
"YES...I am a bandit, so, little girl, what do you think of that!!"
She smiled. "If you want to know...MEGA BRANDO!!!" She chanted as the bandit went flying into the air as the ground exploded around him.
Lina gleefully began to sort through the Bandit's accumluated treasure. "Darn...its all kitchen stuff." She swore poking through the various utensils. "What kind of bandit was he?"
"Maybe he was a dinner thief?" Gourry suggested.
"A dinner thief?! Who's ever heard of that!?" Lina said.
They took one look at each other, and started to laugh.
"Say, Lina...we have to talk." Gourry said out of the blue.
Lina flinched and swore. No good had ever come from those words.
"Did something happen to you?" His blue eyes pleaded in a way that would melt most women's hearts. Except Lina was not most women, and if anything, it had the opposite effect. "Why didn't you wait for me? You can't travel without me you know...and I don't remember if you told me to meet you somewhere or not but--!"
"You never do!" She complained harshly. "That's just it! Gourry, you're an idiot! You can swing a sword, but you never remember anything!"
"So?"
She growled. "SO!? I can too travel on my own. I did it before I met you, didn't I? "
"Yeah..but we're..I mean, you and I travel together and I look out for you and--I'm your guardian." He looked very puzzled. Things were not going like he'd planned. "Its my duty, but.."
"I don't *need* a guardian Gourry! Even you should be able to figure *that* out!" Her voice began to raise in pitch and volume until she was practically screaming "And BESIDES...THESE THINGS DON'T LAST FOREVER! YOU'RE PARTNERS WITH SOMEONE WHILE IT WORKS...NOT THAT WE WERE PARTNERS, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I --NO YOU DON'T, BUT ANYWAY...ITS OVER! LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY, GOURRY. YOU'RE FIRED! NOW DO YOU GET IT? I DON'T NEED YOU GOURRY...YOU'RE FREE TO GO BE WITH SYLPHEEL OR WHOEVER, AND I'LL BE JUST FINE WITHOUT YOU. DO YOU GET IT? GOURRY? GOURRY!"She grabbed and shook him until the vacant expression dissappeared.
"Oh." He replied. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening."
She slid down the rocks at her back barely feeling the scratches. "WHAT!?"
He took out the plugs from his ears. "When you start to yell like that, I kind of tune you out. So where are we going?"
She groaned in utter frustration. "Did you hear what I said? There is no *we*...can't you understand that!?"
He looked blankly at her. "Does this have something to do with why you were kissing Xellos?"
"I WAS NOT KISSING XELLOS!" She screamed completely red faced. "I WOULD NOT kiss THAT ENIGMATIC BASTARD PRIEST IF HE WERE THE LAST---! What does that have to do with--"
"Oh good." He said, without waiting for her to finnish and with genuine relief " Cause I didn't like it" He said simply. "I don't want anyone else to kiss you."
Lina's jaw dropped completely open. It didn't need to close to mutter "else?"
"Say Lina, when you're mouth is open like that, it really makes those fang teeth of yours stick out." He commented.
She shut her mouth to think of a suitable curse or spell.
Gourry took advantage of the break to say "Anyway Lina, since you weren't kissing Xellos and I'm not your guardian anymore, I guess that means we can be..." He looked away, down at his feet. "You know..."
"I know...I mean, I don't know. We can be what?" She said, asking against her better judgement. Like an insect drawn into the heady aroma of alchol, she couldn't help but dive down into the question and lose herself in it, even if it killed her.
"Aw come on Lina.. You *know*" He insisted still not looking at her.
"I." She took a breath. ".. I.." She looked up at Gourry, and saw only a blond mop of hair and the barest hint of blue eyes buried beneath it. "...I.." The syllable faded as she repeated it for a third time and gave up on saying anything intelligent after "I". "You're not being clear." She said at last. "And what did you mean by 'you don't want anybody else to kiss me'"
"I don't want anybody else to kiss you." He repeated.
Encouraged that she hadn't hit him or started screaming, he raised his head and looked right into her eyes. Gourry had always been either really brave or really stupid, depending on how you looked at it, so he went ahead and put his arms around her and kissed her, It was light and fleeting, and over before Lina could even blink let alone react.
He let go and took a respectful step back. "Um..except me." He said as softly as he'd kissed her.
As he pulled back, their gazes held for what seemed an eternity, neither one able to think of what to say next to the other. And they both instinctively knew the minute they looked away, it would be one of those extremely awkward moments they both had no idea how to handle. This wasn't the kind of situation they could run away from. Gourry hadn't said "it" in plain words, but he'd put the issue on the table and Lina knew she couldn't just walk away. So they kept staring at each other, waiting for the other to react or for something to happen.
Lina prayed for a miracle, but instead, she got a disaster.
"aH Ha Ha Ha Ha"A voice laughed confidentaly as small animals scurried away in sheer terror at the noise. Mother's left their young in a panic as trees wished evolution had given them legs. Lina simply jumped forward, straight into Gourry's arms.
"NO...IT CAN"T BE!" She shruddered.
Gourry, had to admit, the sound *was* annoying, but if it made Lina cuddle up to him, he couldn't complain. Besides, he'd already put his earplugs back in the second it started.
"THERE YOU ARE!" The voice which produced the laugh announced as a shadowy figure appeared on the ledge above them. Gracefully, it descended to stand, er, bounce in front of them. "You are So SO SOOOOOO NAIVE, Lina Inverse, to think you could hide away from *me*." The Figure dramatically threw back her cloak to reveal a skimpy black leather outfit, stretched very tight against a massive chest, the bottom half showing more than it covered.
"Say, Lina, why don't you have an outfit like that!" Gourry asked, as his eyes grew unfocussed as he stared at the newcomer... Or at least, a certain part of her anatomy.
"GOURRY!" Lina growled as she jumped back to stand on her own. "You really are dumber than slime!"
"Oh! Wait...I know why, you're breasts are so small, it would probably fall off." He said, almost proud of his reasoning. He didn't enjoy his momentary feat of mental exercise long, as Lina slammed him into the forrest floor.
"Excuse me, you must have the wrong person."Lina said. "Come on Gourry, let's go..."She pulled him up and started to walk away.
"LINA...OH AH aH AHA AH !" The woman said, as she let loose with that hideous laugh, one gloved hand delicately covering her mouth. " Running away already! But as your sexiest and greatest rival-all, I cannot let you leave so easily!"
Lina sighed, dropping Gourry into the dirt floor.
"What do you want?" She said turning to the woman.
"You've kept me from sharing your story for too long! Now that I've tracked you down, I will allow you to be my sidekick once again."
"Fireball!" Lina declared tossing it at the woman who collapsed with a sizzle, her hair fried, her cape tossing over her head to reveal that her costume covered just as little in back.
Gourry's eyes bugged out a bit at the view, but he regained himself nicely. "Uh, Lina, wasn't that a bit rude to your friend??"
"FRIEND!?" Lina shouted indignantly. "HER!?"
"Oh....Then who is she?"
"I am Nahga, the great white snake, the beautiful, most sexy sorceress and greatest rival of Lina Inverse." Nahga said as she stood up with a bounce, righting her cape.
"She's goldfish sh**" Lina replied evenly.
"OH! That's who she is." Gourry said remembering. "Your former travelling companion, before you had me that is."
Nahga looked furiously at Gourry. "So *he's* why you snuck off and left me!? Lina, Lina, Lina...you are still *so* naive!" She laughed confidently, although, if one thought about it, the laugh seemed totally inappropriate in the situation. She was the one who'd been left behind. She was the one who was upset about it. She was the one who didn't know what was going on. Of course, such things never matter to Nahga. When she was upset, she laughed like that. When she was embarrassed, she laughed like that. When she was happy, yes you guessed it, she laughed like that. It was an all purpose laugh honed by years of practice and training. Nahga thought that it expressed that she was someone you just didn't want to mess with, and that she knew it, and you'd be better off if you knew it too.
Actually, the reason people didn't want to mess with her *was* the laugh, not her magical skills, and everyone but Nahga knew that. Or maybe she did, but preferred to ignore it. She'd made an art of reshaping reality through her perceptions of it.
And her current perception of Lina's situation was a gem. "Ne, Lina, the least you could have done is invited me to your wedding! I *am* your closest friend, ally and rival! But I'll forgive you. Now introduce me to your husband!"